An influential star of British pop for more than three decades, Morrissey is known for his outspoken and often controversial views on class, ethnicity, and sexuality. Among critics and his many fans, he has long been seen as an anti-establishment figure who continues to provoke devotion, argument, and spirited debate.

This is the first collection of academic essays to focus exclusively on Morrissey’s solo career, and this important book offers a nuanced and rich reading of his highly influential creative and cultural output. Covering a broad range of academic disciplines and approaches, including musicology, ethnography, sociology, and cultural studies, these essays will be a must for fans of Morrissey or the Smiths, or those seeking to make sense of the many fascinating complexities of this global icon and controversial figure.

Acknowledgements Preface Introduction: But Don’t Forget the Songs that Made You Cry and the Songs that Saved Your Life... Eoin Devereux, Aileen Dillane and Martin J. Power

Chapter 1: ‘Suedehead’: Paving the Pilgrimage Path to Morrissey’s and Dean’s Fairmount, Indiana Erin Hazard Chapter 2: “The Seaside Town that They Forgot to Bomb”: Morrissey and Betjeman on Urban Regeneration and British Identity Lawrence Foley Chapter 3: In The Spirit of ’69? Morrissey and the Skinhead Cult John H. Baker Chapter 4: Fanatics, Apostles and NMEs Colin Snowsell Chapter 5: The “Teenage Dad” and “Slum Mums” are Just “Certain People I Know”: Counter Hegemonic Representations of the Working/Underclass in the Works of Morrissey Martin J. Power Chapter 6: In Our Different Ways We are the Same: Morrissey and Representations of Disability Daniel Manco Chapter 7: “My So Friendly Lens”: Morrissey as Mediated through His Public Image Melissa Connor Chapter 8: “Because I’ve only got Two Hands”: Western Art Undercurrents in the Poses and Gestures of Morrissey Andrew Cope Chapter 9: Moz: art: Adorno Meets Morrissey in the cultural Divisions Rachel M. Brett Chapter 10: Speedway for Beginners: Morrissey, Martyrdom and Ambiguity Eoin Devereux and Aileen Dillane Chapter 11: No Love in Modern Life: Matters of Performance and Production in a Morrissey Song Eirik Askerøi Chapter 12: ‘Vicar In A Tutu’: Dialogism, Iconicity and the Carnivalesque in Morrissey Pierpaolo Martino Chapter 13: Smiths Night: A Dream World Created Through Other People’s Music Dan Jacobson and Ian Jeffrey Chapter 14: Talent Borrows, Genius Steals: Morrissey and the Art of Appropriation Lee Brooks Chapter 15: ‘I’m Not the Man You Think I Am’: Morrissey’s Negotiation of Dominant Gender and Sexuality Codes Elisabeth Woronzoff Chapter 16: Melodramatic Morrissey: Kill Uncle, Cavell and the Question of the Human Voice Johanna Sjöstedt Chapter 17: ‘You Have Killed Me’—Tropes of Hyperbole and Sentimentality in Morrissey’s Musical Expression Stan Hawkins

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“A broad ranging, intellectually satisfying tapestry of interpretation that generates unique ways of thinking about celebrity, representation, and difference, as articulated in popular culture.”

For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu